


Make them fall in love

by Clementines



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Crushes, Friendship, Jealousy, Love, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 13:36:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2350301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clementines/pseuds/Clementines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Gareth are all over Cristiano. Fábio is not happy. Cristiano wants to make him happy. Marcelo and Pepe help. A new couple ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make them fall in love

1\. The Problem

Cristiano is smiling when he realizes Fábio is glaring at him from the other side of the field. He then frowns, not understanding the blonde’s attitude, until Marcelo points at the two boys standing next to him, laughing with him. Cristiano can’t help but laugh; Fábio being jealous is something he always enjoys immensely. 

“Man, don’t push it. You’ll piss him off for real.”

Marcelo warns him but he just cannot stop the laugh falling from his lips. The concept of Fábio being jealous over Gareth and James is simply too ridiculous to not laugh at it. He considers for a brief moment to play with the blonde, flirting shamelessly with the other two men. He dismisses the idea when Fábio, probably one of the more chilled out guys on earth, comes to him and whispers into his ear: “We’ll talk about this later.”

Later comes when they’re sitting in the car, driving back home. 

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”

Cristiano intends it as a comment to relax the ambiance but it backfires quickly enough. 

“Then don’t make me wear it.”

The older sighs and parks the car on the side of the road. 

“What are you doing? I want to go home! Start the freaking car.”

“Not until we’ve cleared this up. Are you stupid?”

Fábio looks at the other man with an angry expression, was he insulting him?

“That’s what you think of me?”

Cristiano sighs and drops his hand on Fábio’s arm, drawing calming circles on it. 

“Of course not but I do think you being jealous is absolutely ridiculous. You know you’re always the first on my list.”

Fábio scoffs. “I don’t want to be the first, I want to be the only one.”

Cristiano fondly smiles at the expression of sulking on the blonde’s face. 

“You’re the first and only one. I just try to be nice to them. You, of all people, should know how hard it is to start in a new place.”

“They’re fan boying over you all day long!”

“If I remember correctly, you weren’t that much different when you came to Portugal NT, embracing me, kissing my neck when I scored and all that...”

Fábio blushes remembering that kid who was so in awe with his captain.

“If they kiss your neck, I’ll personally kill them.”

Cristiano smiles at the words his best friend mumbles. 

“I wouldn’t let them do that. That’s our thing.”

“I don’t want them on you all day.”

“I can’t avoid that. What do you want me to do, to yell at them to stay away? Come on Fábio.”

“If you love me, you’ll find a way.”

“You’re being irrational.”

“Love is irrational. Deal with it.”

Cristiano wants to argue but he knows it is useless; Fábio is not having the best of times, barely playing again, and he doesn’t want to add up to the list of difficulties in his life. He mumbles a “Fine, whatever you say” before driving them home. 

 

2\. The Solution

Cristiano is walking from a side of the living room to the other, thinking hard. A few days had passed since his conversation with Fábio and things weren’t getting any better. The blond refused any real contact between them and he was getting sick of it all. That’s why he had reunited his two friends, Pepe and Marcelo, in his living room. Sadly, those two friends were too engrossed in the soap opera playing on Spanish TV to help. When the TV finally stopped, Cristiano having turned it off, they snapped back to reality. 

“What are you doing, man? We were matching that!”

“Yeah Cris, you’re so grumpy lately.”

“We’re not here to watch TV all together, you can do that at your own home! We’re here to find a solution to my problem.”

Marcelo couldn’t help but laugh at the emphasis Cristiano put on the word “mine”. 

“What’s the problem?” Asked Pepe, truly interested. 

“Fábio is mad at me. He wants me to put James and Gareth off my back.”

When the two men started giggling, Cristiano saw red. “What the hell is so funny?”

“You two are so damn cute!” Said Marcelo. 

“You’re adorable!” Added Pepe, still giggling to himself. 

“You two are idiots. Now, any solution?”

“Why don’t you just tell them?” Marcelo shrugs at him like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Sure, let’s see how that plays out. “Hey guys! I’d like for you two to keep your distance because, well, Fábio is kind of jealous.” Not happening.”

“Give them Messi’s number, maybe they’ll like him better!”

As soon as the words fall from Pepe’s mouth, a cushion is thrown at his face. The fit of giggles erupts once again. 

“Guys, this is serious!”

“Okay, okay, let us think about it.”

Marcelo and Pepe start to whisper into each other’s ear and Cristiano, although he tries, is unable to decipher what they are saying. After a few minutes, Pepe yells: “That’s genius!”

“What? What idea?”

Marcelo looked at Cristiano as if he was dumb, explaining everything slowly so he could understand. 

“James and Gareth have you in common: they both fan boy over you. Gareth is always compared to you and James is almost your double!” 

“Please, I’m way better looking than James.” Cristiano scoffs while Pepe shakes his head.

“Man, focus, this is about Fábio.”

“Don’t you see it?” Asks Marcelo.

“See what?”

“If they like you, they’ll probably like each other! You just have to put them together!”

Sometimes, Marcelo truly amazes Cristiano. That was actually the best of ideas.

“How?”

 

3\. The Plan

Marcelo waits for everyone to leave the training room before leaving a note in James and Gareth’s bags. 

Simple and effective: “Want to stay for a session of free kicks after training? CR.”

Pepe waits for everyone to go away after the training to leave a note on a ball, in the middle of the field. Nothing too complicated: “Couldn’t make it. Both of you have fun. CR.”

The two boys had been disappointed at first but had quickly learnt to enjoy each other’s company. The next day, they were closer than before even though not enough so everybody could notice it. Cristiano, Pepe and Marcelo could see. 

A few days later, Cristiano invites them both over at his place and this time he makes it but only for ten minutes. Pepe phones him so he can pretend it’s something important, a matter he needs to attend immediately. He leaves the place he was occupying in the middle of the sofa, excuses himself, and go over to Fábio’s who’s still not very loving towards him. 

When he comes back a few hours later, a movie is playing on the TV. James and Gareth have scooted closer; so close that James’ head is on Gareth’s shoulder. Both wake up with a jolt, not paying attention to the position they’re in but Cristiano has already noticed it. 

The next time is a dinner in town and Cristiano doesn’t leave. He prefers to bore them with endless stories about Junior and to tell them how wonderful Fábio is, and how much he cares about him. By the end of the dinner, he’s pretty sure Gareth and James would rather be alone. 

They still cling to him during the training sessions, still battle for his attention on the field, but the difference is evident. When they have exercises to do by pairs, they always search for each other and no longer for Cristiano. Pepe and Marcelo send him knowing winks while Cristiano smirks. Even Fábio notices and stops giving Cristiano the cold shoulder, although things don’t go back to normal just yet. 

The last time it happens, Cristiano makes them believe it’s a date. He reserves a table at the finest restaurant in Madrid, then requests for the night to be a romantic dinner. He comes by to make sure everything is all right: petal flowers are scattered on the table, violet and white give a soft ambiance and candles glow in the darkness. Cristiano generously tips the writer so everything works out fine and goes to his, ready to enjoy a dinner with Fábio who’s slowly warming up to him again.

The next day, the Portuguese trio nervously awaits Gareth and James, desiring to read on their faces the outcome of the previous night. Had it worked? Were they angry Cristiano had set them up? They never knew how the night had played out but the smiles on both of their faces told them everything they needed to know. 

They still have a crush on Cristiano though but it’s strictly platonic and Fábio can deal with that. 

 

4\. The Happy Ending

The game against Elche comes around and he scores four freaking goals. He is incredibly proud about it and he’s not the only one. James and Gareth still come to congratulate him on his goals, but he goes somewhere else. When he scores the third, he’s near enough Madrid’s bench to see Fábio coming towards him, open arms and cheeky smile, and he’s happy to oblige. Things are back to normal. When he steps out of the training room, 90 glorious minutes later, the blonde approaches him and whispers into his ear: “The celebration is far from over tonight.”

Cristiano can’t help the smile overtaking his face at the promises such a sentence holds. In the background, he can catch a glimpse of Gareth and James having a similar exchange. He tugs at Fábio’s waist to start moving, eager to get home. Before leaving, he winks at Pepe and Marcelo because, without those two idiots, he would still be in deep shit.


End file.
